(201) Magazine Blogs

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Another quick blog entry as I wait at my Newark gate for my flight to Toronto. Apparently, it’s pretty nippy up in Toronto. Just another sign that hockey season is getting into full swing. After the Rangers played four games over a span of 10 days, they now play three in four nights and six in 10.

Rookie defenseman Mike Sauer will be rejoining the Rangers’ lineup after playing in the first two games and being a healthy scratch the past two games as John Tortorella continues to figure out which of his last three defensemen - Sauer, Matt Gilroy or Steve Eminger - should get the fifth and sixth spots. Sauer said he’s not sure who his partner is against the Maple Leafs. Of the three, Sauer is most likely the most solid defensively, though he cleared had a few miscues due to inexperience in the season’s first two games.

“I’m in, that’s all I’ve told,” Sauer said after today’s practice.

Sauer said nobody from the coaching staff has specifically told him exactly what they’re looking for, he figures it’s pretty simple - as in, he needs to play a solid, simple, defensive game.

‘They haven’t really said it but it’s what they’ve told me all along, play my game,” Sauer said.

Since Sauer was a healthy scratch for the Rangers’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs on Friday, he saw from a bird’s-eye view how the Maple Leafs were attacking the zone.

“They come very hard,” Sauer said. “They really can move and shoot the puck. You have to make sure of your gaps against them and make sure that time and space aren’t there for them.”
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A quick around-the-room as I try to make my train to the plane to get to Toronto. New (old) lines for the Rangers today as John Tortorella reunites Derek Stepan’s line and keeps Artem Anisimov’s line together.

Brandon Dubinsky left the ice early and did not return after taking a shot off the arm. John Tortorella said it was a precautionary move and that Dubinsky would definitely play tomorrow. The coach added there was no need to call up a forward from Hartford (AHL) just in case. Marty Biron will play one of these three games in four nights and Henrik Lundqvist was a little cagey when I asked him whether he was in tomorrow or not. He said he’d check with the coaching staff as to whether he could tell me. I told him don’t bother. I did ask Tortorella whether Lundqvist was playing but only because that’s my job. He said he would exercise his option not to disclose his goalie the day before the game, which is certainly his right.

Defensively, Mike Sauer is in, though it’s unclear whether Matt Gilroy or Steve Eminger will sit. If the fifth and sixth defense spots are going to be a constant evaluation, it might make sense to see Sauer and Gilroy paired together to see if that’s a match. Eminger is the only one of the three who has not been a healthy scratch through the first four games.

Tortorella said he wanted Anisimov and Stepan’s lines together because they’d been effective and didn’t want to “rob Peter to pay Paul” by coming up with all-new combinations.
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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Rangers did not practice today. Instead, they met at their practice facility for some dry-land training as coach John Tortorella met with the media for a relaxed 15 minutes or so.

Tortorella said, at this time, no call-ups were planned for the Toronto/Boston trip (the team leaves tomorrow afternoon). Instead, he envisions bigger roles for Erik Christensen and Todd White and will likely shake up his lines after last night’s 3-1 loss to the Avalanche. Specifically, Tortorella said while he liked the game Alex Frolov played, he didn’t particularly like Frolov’s line with Derek Stepan and Ruslan Fedotenko. It could be time for Tortorella to break up the Brandon Dubinsky-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan trio and perhaps play Frolov with Anisimov.

Tortorella said he wants to give Christensen a chance in an offensive role but, if it doesn’t work out, he would give White a chance.

Tortorella also said backup goalie Marty Biron would make his Rangers’ debut during this stretch of three games in four nights, though Tortorella wouldn’t specify which game. I asked him whether it would be Boston on Saturday but Tortorella didn’t bite.

While much of the post-game consternation came over special teams as the Rangers went 0 for 5 on the power play and allowed two power-play goals on three penalty kill opportunities, there should definitely be another area of concern. The Rangers won just 25 of 63 faceoffs (40 percent).

And two young players who figure who to see plenty of ice time, and thus take plenty of key faceoffs, particularly with Chris Drury (broken left index finger) out for six weeks, fared particularly poorly. Rookie Derek Stepan won just 5 of 15 (33 percent) while Artem Anisimov won 6 of 22 (27 percent). Veteran Todd White lost all three faceoffs he took. Only Erik Christensen, who won 6 of 8, had a good night.

But, oh, those special teams.

“I thought our power plays had some good looks along the way, even though we haven’t scored, but not tonight,” said coach John Tortorella, whose team is now 2 for 17 with the man advantage while it has allowed six power-play goals in the opponents’ 20 opportunities. “At that time was a key time in the game and we didn’t get it done and they did.”
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The Rangers carried 12 forwards, no extras, for tonight’s loss and with Todd White logging 7:46 mostly ineffectual minutes, not to mention the 2:04 over three shifts that Derek Boogaard got, the Rangers really had three lines tonight.

That might not be the case when the Rangers travel to Toronto and Boston. Coach John Tortorella was asked after the game whether he would re-consider the decision to carry just 12. Tortorella allowed that it wasn’t his decision and said he hadn’t talked to GM Glen Sather yet. However, he did acknowledge it was something the Rangers would “have to re-assess it tomorrow. We’ll see where we go.”

The Rangers are going to need forward with scoring potential. To me, that would seem like a chance for Mats Zuccarello but the organization may still feel like the Norwegian import still needs time to acclimate to the North American rinks. Trying to bring up Tim Kennedy (who it’s becoming even more obvious should have never been sent down) runs the risk of losing him on re-entry waivers, then being charged for half his $550,000 salary in dead salary cap space the rest of the season. Dale Weise is injured, Evgeny Grachev did not look great during training camp. Kris Newbury, with seven assists, is Hartford’s leading scorer. Jeremy Williams has three goals and two assists and Dane Byers has two goals and three assists. Zuccarello has two goals.

The Rangers will have an off-ice workout tomorrow at 11. Maybe some answers will be forthcoming then.
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Monday, October 18, 2010

From the previous post, I was right in thinking that 6-8 weeks for Vinny Prospal was good news for the Rangers as coach John Tortorella said it was “a little better than expected.” However, I may have guessed wrong on a new alternate captain as Tortorella said it was something that would be discussed after tonight’s game.

“I may,” Tortorella said. “I have an idea who I would like. We’ll talk about it as a team and see where we go.”

Michal Rozsival temporarily wore an A last season with Prospal out and Brian Boyle had an A during the preseason. I’d also think Marc Staal, Dan Girardi or possibly Brandon Dubinsky might be possibilities.

As for tonight’s game, Erik Christensen (right groin) is definitely back in the lineup after missing Friday’s game. The lines and D-pairs are the same from yesterday’s practice.

Chatted with Gilroy and Frolov before the game and Gilroy’s really not sure how difficult it will be for him to play left defense despite being a right-handed shot. He said he was not asked to play on his off side at Boston University and couldn’t recall being used on that side last season as a rookie. But Gilroy does know that there are adjustments to be made.

Frolov, meanwhile, didn’t sound too concerned about switching linemates after three games (a necessity since two-thirds of the top line from last game, Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury, are out injured).

“I feel we have really good players,” Frolov said. “Stepan is a talented young guy. He has a lot of skills. We played together in a couple of preseason games, that should help. it’s still early in the season, we’re trying to find some combinations in the lines. It’s a part of the game, injuries. You always have to play through it. It doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup. You just have to step up and try your best. We know how to do it, we know how we have to play. We have to play aggressive.”

Frolov, with two assists in his first three games as a Ranger, said it’s important for him to get that first goal in a Blueshirt, especially with the injuries, but that’s not really any different than any other scenario.

“It’s always important for any player on any team in any city,” Frolov said. “You’re not going to score every game. But you want to score every game.”

The news that Vinny Prospal underwent successful (the Rangers’ term) surgery on his right knee today and has been told he’ll miss 6-8 weeks is probably as good as the Rangers could have expected, if not better. Nobody around the Rangers thought Prospal would miss the whole season but there were certainly concerns about the 35-year-old considering he hasn’t been the same since undergoing surgery on the knee in December.

Even if Prospal is out another two months, he’d still be available for about half the NHL season. Think of it as acquiring a player without giving up anything. Given Prospal’s low base salary and the way the contract is structured, there shouldn’t be much stress at all on the team’s salary cap situation when Prospal does return.

Here’s the statement from the Rangers: “New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that forward Vinny Prospal underwent successful surgery on his knee this morning. The procedure was performed by Dr. Andrew Feldman at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York. Prospal will be sidelined for six to eight weeks.”

More from the Garden before tonight’s Rangers-Avalanche game soon, including reaction to the news on Prospal. My guess is the Rangers will not name a substitute alternate captain but we’ll see what coach John Tortorella has to say on the matter.
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This is home game No. 2 following Friday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs. Just to remind, the Rangers are going sans morning skates for Madison Square Garden games so we’ll try to keep you excited for tonight’s game with the following preview material.

First, Henrik Lundqvist is still working out the early-season kinks though playing behind a defense that’s had some serious issues the past two games is not helping.

Coach John Tortorella said one thing he doesn’ worry about is Lundqvist but did not hat Lundqvist played much better against the Maple Leafs than he did in Monday’s 6-4 loss to the Islanders. Tortorella is sticking to his pre-season pledge to get Lundqvist into a groove but acknowledged that backup Marty Biron will get some playing time “shortly.”

“We’ve looked at the schedule and we have an idea of when we want to play him,” Tortorella said. “It doesn’t have to be after an awful game (by Lundqvist). Marty will get some time shortly.”

The schedule now (finally) starts to get busy. The Rangers play three games in four nights starting Thursday in Toronto and also have a three-in-four stretch starting next Wednesday with home games against the Thrashers (Wednesday) and the Hurricanes (Friday) and a third game against the Maple Leafs (at Toronto, Saturday). Just me speaking here, but I think it’s entirely reasonable to think Biron might get his first start Saturday at Boston, since it’s logical that Lundqvist would start against the Devils Sunday at the Garden. Biron could also get the second game in Toronto on Oct. 30, though Tortorella has also said he wants to get Biron used to playing at the Garden.

Here’s a quick preview sketch on tonight’s game:
Avalanche at Rangers
Tonight, 7 o’clock
TV: Versus
Radio: WNYM-AM 970
Storyline: The Rangers (1-1-1) play the first of their 18 games against Western Conference foes. LWs Sean Avery (four assists) and Brandon Dubinsky (three goals, one assist) lead the team in points. The Avalanche (3-2-0), who beat the Devils, 3-2, Friday but lost to the Islanders, 5-2 on Saturday, have gone just 2 for 18 on the power play with one shorthanded goal against..

Sunday, October 17, 2010

In a nutshell, that’s the story from today’s Rangers practice, a good portion of which was spent on defensive zone coverage - and that includes the classroom work.

“The No. 1 priority of practice as well as after the game (Friday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs) is coverage,” coach John Tortorella said. “We don’t have to give up our defense to create more offense. Our approaching isn’t raising holy hell and taking chances all over the place. You’re not going to win in this league unless you’re solid defensively…It was a lack of stopping (Friday). It wasn’t a high-man problem. It was running around our end zone, spinning and not stopping.”

Still, the defensive pairs will stay the same for tomorrow’s game against the Avalanche:
Marc Staal-Michal Rozsival
Michael Del Zotto-Dan Girardi
Matt Gilroy-Steve Eminger

Saturday, October 16, 2010

First, the good news for the Rangers: The NHL will take no disciplinary action against Sean Avery for his slashes to the back of Mike Komisarek’s skates in Friday’s 4-3 overtime loss.

Meanwhile, Marian Gaborik, his left arm in a sling, met with the media during today’s practice and expressed frustration with the latest in a long line of injuries in his career but stressed he wants to try to remain position. At some point this week, once the swelling around his separated left shoulder reduces, he’ll undergo PRP (platelet-rich plasma) treatment, during which some of his blood his removed and enriched through spinning, then re-inserted in his body. Gaborik said the procedure has been beneficial to him during previous groin and hamstring injuries. Gaborik said he’s been told he’ll miss 2-4 weeks.

Coach John Tortorella said Chris Drury would not require surgery for a non-displaced fracture after he re-broke the same finger he initially broke on Sept. 20.

“It’s crazy,” Tortorella said. ““It’s unbelievable to me that it’s the same finger, but fractured in different place. I’m not worried about his hand, I’m worried about Dru. He’s fit to be tied.”

Meanwhile, Tortorella said the Rangers would have a better idea of how long Vinny Prospal (right knee) will be out - right now it’s just being called indefinite - after he has surgery this week. The Rangers will be releasing more information on the exact nature of the procedure but, essentially, Prospal’s knee will be cleaned out, sort of a more complicated form of exploratory or arthroscopic surgery. Once the doctors can assess the damage inside the knee, the Rangers will have a better idea of how long Prospal will be sidelined. The Rangers are optimistic, though, that this procedure will hasten Prospal’s eventual return this season.
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About

ANDREW GROSS covers the New York Rangers for The Record and Herald News, having joined the North Jersey Media Group in November 2007. Gross also covered the Rangers and New York Jets, as well as St. John’s basketball and Army football, for Gannett Newspapers and The Journal News (N.Y.). He graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a degree in newspaper journalism.